No matter how healthy she tried to eat or how often she ran 4 miles at her community college, Azucena “Suzy” Reyes felt bloated in her stomach.
“I look like I’m pregnant,” Reyes, who is 43 and based in Alvin, Texas, told Business Insider. At age 32, she studied to become a certified nursing assistant while running a construction company with her husband and raising four children.
Then, her symptoms worsened. He is often tired, because he works and is busy. He started running a fever and felt very nauseous. He also had a severe stomach ache.
“I really thought it was a ruptured ovary because it hurt so much,” she said.
Between August and October of 2015, Reyes went to the ER four times, where he was diagnosed with intestinal inflammation. When he finally saw a GI doctor in October, he was sent to the ER five times, where he underwent emergency surgery and learned he had stage 3 colon cancer.
“I was scared because I didn’t know anything about colon cancer,” Reyes said. “It was very dramatic for me because I don’t want my children to experience the fear of me dying.”
He was told that he did not have cancer because of his age and race
After ER staff looked at her vitals, Reyes was first diagnosed with colitis and enteritis, inflammation of the small and large intestines, as well as a microperforation. He was sent home on antibiotics. When the pain didn’t go away, he went back to the ER and was put on a PICC line for medication and stayed in the hospital for three weeks. At the same time, Reyes tried to make a GI appointment and was put on a waiting list until early October.
When the PICC line was removed, the nausea returned. The next two ER visits didn’t provide any more answers. By the time she finally saw her GI, she couldn’t stay long enough because she kept throwing up.
Within hours, Reyes and her husband went to the ER a fifth time, where an ultrasound revealed a tumor that has completely blocked his transverse colon, the longest part of the large intestine, and made it difficult for him to keep food down. The next day, he had to have emergency surgery to remove it.
Reyes was initially told that he did not have colon cancer because it is rarer in the Hispanic population. Suzy Reyes
In the beginning, Reyes said the surgeon told him not to worry about the tumor. He told me that he was very young, and that colon cancer is uncommon in the Hispanic population and people under the age of 60.
But a week later, he learned he had stage 3B colon cancer. “I was scared, but relieved at the same time,” Reyes said. “For three months, I suffered, and I did not know why.”
Worry worries his family
His original plan was to hide the diagnosis and treatment from his family, especially his four children, ages 4 to 16. The doctor said he only needed two or three rounds of chemotherapy. Reyes and her husband wanted to leave their children with their mother and said they would be traveling for a month.
After meeting with an oncologist and learning that the cancer had grown through the muscle wall and into the lymph nodes, he learned he would need 12 rounds of chemotherapy — about six months of treatment. It will be impossible to keep a secret. “I just don’t want people to suffer, like my children and my parents,” Reyes said.
Reyes experienced side effects from chemo, such as nausea, fatigue, and weight gain. “I was really swollen,” he said. “It was like they were pumping air into me.”
All the while, she avoids colon cancer or tries to research her prognosis online — something she says helps her maintain “peace of mind” during treatment.
He now supports cancer awareness in the Spanish-speaking community
As of October 2026, Reyes has been cancer free for over ten years. He said he continues to receive annual follow-ups, including a colonoscopy, blood work, and a CT scan.
Reyes now supports colon cancer awareness, especially in the Spanish-speaking community. Suzy Reyes
Some of the side effects of her treatment have not gone away. “Neuropathy in the legs, arms, fingers – like needles,” he said.
After his diagnosis, he asked his sister, who was 42 years old and a few years below the recommended screening age of 45, to get a colonoscopy. After some resistance, she agreed – and learned she also had colon cancer. After surgery to remove the tumor, she has been cancer-free for 4 years, he said.
Looking back, Reyes said he want more guidance from other colon cancer sufferers. She remembers posting about her experience on social media, but “no one has ever come up to me and said, ‘Hey, I’m an advocate for colon cancer. I’m here,'” she said. “I wish I had.”
Reyes currently participates in the Colorectal Cancer Alliance’s Never Too Young Taskforce, as well as several other groups. They also try to focus on helping the Spanish-speaking community. “There were a lot of people who came up, me and my wife, and they were like, ‘Thank you for doing this,'” he said.